Somethings need to be remembered
by noodle soup
Summary: PJ. Postfinale. A few years after the last episode Pacey and Joey are already having marraige problems. This fic goes through their memories since they first met.
1. Trouble in Paradise

Some things need to be remembered" 

Summary: PJ. Pre-finale. A few years after the last episode Pacey and Joey are already having marriage problems. This story goes through their memories since they first met. R&R

Disclaimer: We do not own Dawson's Creek or any of the characters in this story apart from Gerry.

A/N: Thank you for reviewing our last two stories we hope you enjoy this one.

"He's the one that started it!"

"What? That's rubbish! That is not true!"

Sometimes Gerry wondered what would have happened if he paid more attention in medical school. Well first he could have become something more respectable such as a surgeon or a consultant instead of a marriage counselor. Second he wouldn't have met his future ex-wife. It was quite ironic that a marriage councilor didn't know how to fix his own marriage. People would often come up to him and ask him about his job and if it helped him with the 'old girl at home'. Well it hadn't. People just assume that if you were good at your job you could somehow relate it to your own personal life but you can see bankers in debt and doctors smoking. Most of the time he felt that he wasn't even good at his job as most of his clients ended up in the courthouse discussing who gets the bread maker. But then again, maybe those couples just weren't to be together.

"Please would you tell him to stop pushing the blame away from himself."

"Yeah but tell her to stop taking all her stress out on me."

Gerry could see this couple was on a road to divorce. They needed some serious counseling otherwise they wouldn't be arguing in his office, they would soon be doing that in court. It made him sad to think that this young couple was so near to heartbreak and turmoil. He looked at them closely and could see that they looked good together. But looks can be deceiving, as he knew very well himself. But he was going to put more effort into this case than he did with any of the others. He wanted to accomplish one thing in his life and maybe saving this marriage was it. He failed his marriage but he wasn't going to let his past experiences cloud his judgment.

"Okay Mr. and Mrs. Witter, lets take some time to calm down and discuss what's troubling the both of you," Gerry broke in gently.

Joey turned her glare away from Pacey and directed it at Gerry. "You want to know what's troubling us?" she asked rhetorically.

Pacey sighed and put his head in hands looking as though he wanted to be somewhere else right now.

"Well look around Mr.Walsh, we are having problems with our marriage and I am nearly nine months pregnant. What do you think is troubling us?" Joey exclaimed.

Gerry wished he put a notice in his advert not to let any angry pregnant women into his sessions; it was scarier than watching the Exorcist - infact probably the same.

"Jo," Pacey said wearily, rubbing his face slowly, "He's just trying to help okay? Cut him some slack."

"No Pace, why can't you cut me some slack? I'm pregnant" Joey retorted

"Oh please don't start this again," Pacey whined, "I have to work so we can actually afford to look after the baby, don't you understand?"

"Listen"-

"Okay!" Gerry broke in. "Okay we have several issues to sort out but I think we need to go through these problems slowly and without shouting," he threw a look at Joey who just sighed and turned to look out the window. Pacey just nodded.

"Right," Gerry said calmly "We are going to go right back to the beginning of your relationship. When you two first met."

Joey turned away from the window and looked at Gerry skeptically. "You mean the first time my eyes fell on this asshole?"

Pacey looked up at this remark with indignation. "You mean the first time I saw this control freak?"

"I wouldn't have put it that way but yes the beginning of your relationship," Gerry smiled slightly.

Pacey and Joey looked at each other, alook full of knowing but also a slight hint of fond memories. Joey turned to Gerry "Well Mr. Walsh, how long have you got?"

"It doesn't matter as long as we get to the bottom of these problems because the first meeting is always important," Gerry said with eagerness. His old training was coming back to him.

"Well Mr. Walsh," Pacey replied with a teasing look on his face, the one that was usually there when he was up to mischief, "That would take us back to 1988 when we were both five-years-old."

Gerry's shoulders sank and he sat down at his desk and picked up the telephone.

"Mrs. Anderson, could you cancel all my other appointments? Thank you."

Boy this was going to be hell of a long session. _"Oh well,"_ he thought _"At least I'm getting paid for this."_

Please R&R.


	2. Sand Castles

Gerry settled down with a lemon tea, swirling the lemon impatiently as he waited for Pacey and Joey to begin. "So who wants to start?" he asked, pouring out some tea for the couple.

Joey glanced at Pacey and then at Mr. Walsh. "Are you sure you want to start from where we _first met_? We're going to be here hours! I'll probably give birth to the baby before we even get talking about college!"

"Hmm… don't temp fate," Gerry commented, slightly amused. "Don't worry, I've cancelled my appointments for the day, I'm all ears."

"I don't know…" Joey said, skeptically. "I mean, personally, I can't see how going through our entire lives would help our marriage. Actually it would probably send us straight to a divorce councilor! Maybe we should go."

"Witter's aren't quitters, Joey!" Pacey grinned.

"Gee Pacey, is that the theme tune of your life? Anyway if Witter's aren't quitters then why exactly are we here?"

"May I remind you that this was your idea, Joey and-"

"Okay, okay…" Gerry interrupted, "Enough already. The first time you met! Pacey?"

Pacey pondered, glancing at Joey from time to time. "Well the first time we met…"

Five- year old Joey was playing in the sandpit. It was her first year of Kindergarten, and the first day Dawson was off sick. Without her best friend to talk to, Joey began to use her artistic talents to build a sandcastle. It was an impressive construction for her age, with a moat and bridge. It had taken her the best of around 40 minutes to complete and when she was done, she stood back, gleaming, her sweeping brown hair falling loosely around her shoulders.

She nodded at her castle proudly, deciding to make some sand people as well. A King Dawson, and Queen Joey to rule the castle. But suddenly she heard some laughter behind her.

"What is that Josephine?" A young boy shouted.

She turned around to face the boy and recognised him as the guy who had been throwing paint at everyone earlier. Everyone called him 'Mad Matt.' a rather lame name to say the least, but he was the bully of the class, and although he was only 5 years old he was strong and mean to everyone.

"It's a sandcastle, Dumbo, and my name is Joey!" she replied, just as aggressively.

The boy grinned. "I tink it's rubbish!"

"Think Dumbo. The word is think," she corrected (she was bright for her age).

"Well do you_ think_ I could look?" he asked.

Joey rolled her eyes, flicked back her hair and took a step backwards for him to see.

The boy began to look at the castle, a smile breaking over his face. Without warning he suddenly jumped over it, knocking the castle to dust.

"Hey!" a voice shouted furiously, but it wasn't Joey's. This boy ran up and pushed Mad Matt over. "Get away from her!" he cried, trying to be heroic. He held Matt down and kicked him, before Matt ran away crying.

He then turned to Joey, victorious. "My name is Pacey!" he said, holding out his small palm. "But you can call me superman if you want!"

"Excuse me?" Joey asked.

"Well I did save you from Mad Matt!"

"I didn't need you!"

"You were going to take him out by yourself?" he laughed.

"You don't think I could?"

Pacey glanced at her amused. "Skinny arms, small bones, oh and you're a girl!"

"Yeah well I didn't know pigs could fight either! If you'd call that fighting!"

Pacey frowned at her, "You think you could fight better?"

"No I don't think so. I know so."

"I'd like to see that!"

"Well come on," she nodded.

Pacey stared at her, blankly. "I don't fight girls! Wouldn't want you to get hurt!"

"I won't."

Pacey smiled, "I won't fight you!"

"Umm… you just don't wanna loose!"

"Oh yeah!" Pacey threw himself at Joey, as they begun to scramble along the sat pit, stirring up a sandstorm as they went on fighting. Pacey fought lightly, not wanting to hurt Joey, but her brutal punches gave no choice but to retaliate. They rolled along the sand ferociously, until little Joey finally pegged Pacey down.

"Who's superman now?" she asked.

"I let you win!" he teased.

"Oh bite me, Pacey!"

"You asked for it!"

They began fighting even more, but this time they seemed to be having fun. They both began laughing as they rolled across the playground. Spectators began to watch fascinated, and Mad Matt wondered if he was still the real tough guy around.

Covered in sand and mud, Joey and Pacey were about to stop when…

"What are you two doing?"

They both looked up as Miss Stevens glared down at them. "Fighting in the playground? Inside both of you now."

They walked sullenly to her office, giving each other dirty looks as they went.

After listening to Miss Steven's lecture them about the dangers of fighting, they both had to sit outside her office in silence.

Pacey smiled at Joey, "Well that was fun!"

"Fun?" Little Joey repeated. "This is all your fault!"

"You enjoyed it!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!" Joey insisted.

"I heard you laugh!"

"I was pretending to make it sound fun!"

"Yeah well I pretended to let you win!"

They both turned away from each other but secretly smiled to themselves.

Suddenly a voice rang out loud. "Joey I go away for half a day, and you're in trouble? And Pacey, you're here too?"

They both looked up to find Dawson staring at them.

"Hi Dawson," they said in unison.

Joey and Pacey stared at each other.

"You know Dawson?" they said again, in unison.

Dawson looked confused, "You two know each other?"

Joey rolled her eyes, "Everyone knows superman," she joked

Gerry listened to the story intently, his tea untouched as he was listening so carefully.

"So who was Dawson?"

Pacey laughed, loudly. "Oh man… you'll get to know about him pal. He practically plagues the rest of our history!"

"Oh Pacey. Don't start on another Dawson thing! I'm pregnant, I can't take this!"

"Well if you can play the pregnant card Joey, then I can play the Dawson card!"

"Okay!" Gerry intervened. Let's not fight now. Maybe we should move onto another memory? Take another trip down memory lane?"

Joey rolled her eyes. "Pick a year, any year! And we'll fill you in about Dawson on the way!"


	3. Camping

_A/N: Thanks for everyone who reviewed our last chapter! You rock! More reviews please? Hope you enjoy the chapter. The proverbial triangle go camping. _

"I want you to make sure you put lots of Mosquito repellent on," Joey's mother instructed. "Make sure you always wear your raincoat, you never know when it might start to rain."

"Mum! It's July!"

"Even if it doesn't start raining that Pacey will probably start a water fight! Sweet kid!"

"Sweet? Okaay… Which Capeside have you been living in? Last week Pacey flicked ink all over me!"

"Awe… I wondered where that stain was from. He's only 8 Joey, that's what 8 year old boys do!"

"Dawson doesn't."

"That's because he's Dawson! The mature one…"

"Well maybe Pacey should be more like Dawson."

"Joey when you're older, you'll realise that Pacey means just as much to you as Dawson does. Until then… have fun camping!"

"You're not going to do a check list? You always do that!"

"I have to go to work honey, ask Bessie. Come here." She threw her arm around little Joey, and kissed her affectionately on the forehead.

"Mum!" Joey complained, wriggling out of her grip. "See you after the weekend!" and with that, she skipped off. "Bye dad!" she called to her dad who was watching television.

He watched her go, confused. "Where is she going?" he asked Lily.

Lily sighed. "You never listen do you? She's going camping with Dawson and Pacey! And I'm going to work, someone need to be the breadwinner for this family. Make sure Bessie gets off to school."

Pacey sat in Dawson's room, throwing a baseball against the wall as Dawson's parents fussed over Dawson.

"I know you and Dawson have been watching the Great Escape, Pacey, but really… we can play ball out side," Mitch warned him, "That way we don't have to spend money on fixing the walls."

Pacey stopped, and smiled, "Good God, man. Do you really believe I haven't thought about that, too?"

Mitch stared at him blankly.

Dawson smiled, "It's a quote from The Great Escape, Dad."

"Right," Mitch replied. "So what times Joey getting here?"

"She'll be jumping threw the window anytime soon," Pacey replied.

"I hope that ladders safe," Gail worried.

"If not, she'll fall to her death and we can go camping without her!" Pacey joked.

"You love her really!" said Mitch, patting him on the head, "Wasn't this your idea anyway?"

"It wasn't my idea for buzzkill pigtails to come!"

"Yeah," Dawson intercepted. "It was mine! And don't make fun of her, she's still getting over the ink thing!"

Pacey laughed, "Yeah, that was classic."

Suddenly there was a noise from the window as Joey jumped through. "Actually Pacey, I don't think so. And prepare for payback, because I hear there's a lot of mud around Capeside forest!"

"Oh I'm scared, pigtails is after me with the scary scary mud!" Pacey feigned.

"Bite me, Pacey!"

"Haven't we already had this conversation, Potter?"

Mitch sighed, "Now, now, none of that this weekend. We're gonna have a good fun time. Right?"

Dawson sighed, "Does that involve playing football?"

"Ahem, like girls can play football!" Pacey joked.

"Like cretins like you can play football!" Joey quipped.

"Okay, no football. I get it, lets' go!" Mitch announced. He kissed Gail on the cheek.

She whispered in his ear. "You keep an eye on those two, I think John Witter wants his son back alive."

Pacey overhearing called, "I wouldn't count on it!"

Everyone stared at him, silence followed.

"I was joking…" Pacey lied, quickly. "Let's go," he looked down and ran down the stairs as Mitch and Gail looked at each other concernedly.

Mitch sighed, "This is going to be an interesting camping trip."

They were in the car; Mitch had put on some slightly geeky camping songs whilst Joey and Pacey ignored each other at the back.

There were a few problems at the beginning of the car journey as the battling duo both wanted to sit next to Dawson, so Dawson sat in the front seat with his dad, cringing over the camping music, leaving Joey and Pacey to play a game. The game involved pretending to be people on a bus who had never met each other once in their lives. This game seemed to be their favourite.

Dawson watched them through the mirror. "Is this gonna be what it's like all day? Seriously? Cause this is boring. Extremely boring. Undeniably inexplicably boring."

"Stop reading the dictionary Dawson, I know you're bored but hey…"

"Hark at he, who's never read a book in his life!" Joey replied.

Pacey looked at her confused, "Sorry do I know you?" He threw her a sceptic look and then smiled to himself.

Dawson sighed. "Come on guys, we need to all get along or we'll have to resort to acting like my dad."

They all looked at Mitch, amused, as he sang along cheerfully to the camping music.

"To avoid this soon to be out of date music, I'll get along with this cretin. But only to avoid the music."

"I don't know, I quite like this music. What's a cretin anyway?"

Joey rolled her eyes. "Uh… look in a dictionary. Might do you some good!"

Pacey smiled gleefully, "You don't know do you?"

"You know what, Pacey? I could pretend that's it's a strange bug and you'd never know if was telling the truth."

Mitch smiled. "Cretin? It means someone with subnormal intelligence."

Pacey gave him a blank look.

Joey smiled, "In other words an idiot."

Following this, the rest of the ride was not much better.

They got to the forest, erected the tents, and just as it began to get dark, Mitch had a campfire going.

"Ok guys!" he called.

Joey crawled out of her lonely girls only tent. And the boys crawled out of theirs.

"Why don't you three start playing a few games whilst I make dinner? And then we can come and sing some songs around the campfire right?"

His words were proceeded by silence.

"Guys?"

Mitch turned around. They were gone. The thought of singing songs around the fire had frightened them all away.

Joey, Dawson and Pacey huddled behind a tree.

"Ok, what can we do which will take up lots of time? Because we are not singing around the fire!" Dawson hissed.

"Hide and Seek?" Pacey suggested, "Maybe Potter can get lost in the woods and we can have a tent each."

"Shut up!" Joey replied, irritated.

Dawson sighed, "That actually could happen. Not Hide and Seek."

"No let's play," Joey insisted. "Then maybe Cretin could get lost!"

"Yeah, you'd love that," Pacey teased. "Then you and Dawson could share a tent. Dawson and Joey sitting in a tent K-I-S-S-I …. Ouch!" Pacey fell to the floor rubbing his arm, as Joey had socked him one.

"You asked for it Pace!" Dawson responded, grinning at Joey.

"That's right, you two love birds gang up on me!"

Dawson sighed, "Don't be like that, look I'll count. You two go and hide. But now too far?"

"Don't worry, we won't!" Pacey grinned.

Joey, although hating to ever have to agree with Pacey, couldn't help but to suppress an equally mean giggle. "See ya!"

Joey and Pacey walked off together into the wood.

"Good thing we got Dawson to count, he takes forever, plus I'm not sure if you can count!" Joey said, meanly.

"Well good thing this is hide and seek because it means we don't have to see eachother…" Pacey replied. "Unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Well we could hide together. Make it harder for him."

"How would that be harder?" she asked, suspiciously.

"Well think, in one huge forest we could be hiding anywhere and the last place he thinks we'll be is together. Right? How about a tree? You know Dawson hates climbing trees."

Joey thought for a moment, she could either have to put up with this Cretin and have some company, however dismal. Or be alone in this forest, scared to death. "Yeah yeah sure, just to make it harder on Dawson though. And I don't want you touching me."

"Oh I agree," Pacey nodded, "I don't want to get cooties!" before walking off.

"Hey!" Joey said, running after him. "Grow up! We're going to hide in the middle of a tree in the middle of a forest and you're scared I'm going to give you cooties? Hello, we're going to be in a tree? They'll be lots of cooties there. Infact, now that we're on the subject I DON'T HAVE COOTIES!"

Pacey stared at Joey. "You know, instead of that ramble you could have just said that."

"Just find the tree!" Joey ordered.

Joey and Pacey twenty minutes later were still sitting in the tree.

"Oh God! Where is Dawson?" Joey complained.

"You underestimate him!"

"Pacey, Dawson can't even find his sunglasses! Then he realises they're on his head! I don't underestimate him – you're the one who calls him Oompa-Lompa!"

Pacey laughed so hard he nearly fell out of the tree, "True, so true! Look he'll find us, we're fine. Aren't you having a good time?"

Although she didn't like Pacey, anything was better than singing songs with Mitch.

_Gerry stirred his teabag. "So… sitting in a tree?"_

"_Don't you start," Joey warned. "I'm telling you it wasn't the funniest experience." _

_Gerry smiled, "So this is the Dawson I've been waiting to hear about? He doesn't seem like that much trouble!"_

_Pacey laughed. "Not much trouble? He left us in that tree for 45 minutes! 45 minutes? Maybe it was an hour. Or two."_

"_Don't exaggerate!" Joey replied. _

"_I'm serious, we were up in that tree so long, we actually gave up and left. That's when we got lost." He added, darkly. _

"_That wasn't Dawson's fault!" Joey defended. "That was yours!"_

"_Oh yes blame me! It's my fault we got stuck in the tree, it's my fault we got lost, it's my fault that you took the wrong turn-"_

"_I did not!"_

"Okaay…" Gerry smiled. "It doesn't matter who turned where. What's important is how you sorted the problem out. Back to the story?"

"Where are we going?" Joey asked Pacey, she could feel her heart beating faster as darkness fell.

"Well we can't stay in a tree all night. A bird will probably come lay eggs in your hair!"

"Shut up!" Joey replied, she was finding it hard to conceal her fear.

"Lighten up Joey, think of this as an adventure."

"Don't tell me to lighten up… I'll lighten up when… when I feel light!"

Pacey grinned. "The profound words of Josephine Potter. Don't worry, I have a flashlight." He searched around in his pockets. "Or maybe I left it in the tree!"

"Oh great, Pacey the wonderboy who left his powers in the tree. Literally."

The forest began to look very dark now. The trees cast dark silhouettes around them. The wind was throwing leaves around them and in their faces, and they could hear nothing except owls chirping.

"Pacey! Let's go!"

"Oh it's not that bad!"

"PACEY I'M SCARED!" she shouted.

Birds flew away in surprise, and a silence followed. All Pacey could hear were the sounds of Joey hyperventilating.

Pacey looked puzzled. "Come on Joey, you can't fool me. You've got more balls then any guy I know, this can't scare you!"

Suddenly a bird flew past Pacey shoulder.

"Ah!" he shouted and he ran backwards into Joey.

"Ouch!" she said. "Pacey!"

Pacey sighed. "Ok, let me tell you a secret. I'm not so confident myself here so why don't we just calm down, stick together and… and you can hold my hand."

"What?"

"Find you can get lost alone!"

"No, no… wait!"

Joey clasped her hand around Pacey's and to her surprise she found it quite comforting.

They walked together in silence. Joey looked at Pacey and threw him a thankful smile when he wasn't looking. She looked back down at the floor, just in time to miss Pacey's relieved smile at her. He was glad he wasn't alone.

Suddenly they heard a call. "Pacey? Joey?"

They turned. "Dawson!"

Joey grabbed her hand back from Pacey and ran into Dawson's arms. "Thank God you saved me from this Cretin!"

Pacey grinned, "Yeah you saved me from this control freak! She couldn't just take simple instructions! I tell you man, good luck with her!"

"Where were you?" Dawson asked.

"We got a bit lost!"

"I looked everywhere!"

"Did you look in the trees?" Pacey asked. "Joey missed climbing through your window so we climbed a tree instead!"

Dawson looked angry. "Well I did see a tree, and I heard people, but they were laughing so I knew it couldn't be you two. You don't get on well enough."

Pacey and Joey exchanged awkward looks.

"Yeah, couldn't been us!" Joey replied.

Mitch walked over. "Ah Dawson, you found them? Good on you son, just in time for some good old camping karaoke!"

"No!" they all shouted.

There was a pause.

"Gee… Mr. Leary, we would love to, but we're so tired, you know? After all that running, hiding…"

"And climbing," Dawson inserted, irritated.

"Yep, that too. We're a little tired. Maybe tomorrow!" Pacey charmed his way out of it.

Mitch smiled. "You bet Pace. Ok off to bed then, all of you!"

It was the middle of the night. Joey crept into Dawson and Pacey's tent and watched Pacey sleep. Her Mum was right, Pacey could be sweet. Could a cretin be sweet?

"Hey!" She whispered.

Pacey looked up. "Huh?"

"Never mention what happened in the forest again ok? Otherwise the next time we'll be talking about it is in your funeral."

"What are you talking about?"

"We never held hands, we never shared a moment, and I was never scared. Got that?"

Pacey turned over. "Joey I'm trying to sleep!"

"Pacey, never mention it again! Promise?"

"Yeah yeah."

Gerry smiled as the story ended but Joey was on the warpath.

"_You said you would never mention it again…"_

"_I didn't know this counted!" Pacey answered. "And I didn't know then we'd be in marriage counselling did I? And anyway you always share you secrets with your wife and your marriage councillor."_

_Gerry chuckled. He remembered why he loved this job. _

"_Ok how about another memory?"_

_Joey grinned, "How about a memory Pacey doesn't want to hear?"_

"_Don't you start Joey! That's different!"_

_Joey's lipped curled. "Well…maybe… but we don't keep secrets from our councillor do we?"_


	4. Ice Hockey

A/N: Thanks for all your reviews. Sorry we have not updated for a while! We had exams and then a major writers block! We hope to be updating more regularly over the summer. Hope you enjoy. Please read and review! Thanks.

"It really has nothing to do with us!" Pacey argued desperately, pulling at the collar of his shirt, whilst looking out of the window.

"_But your wife says it does!" Gerry replied calmly. He really didn't want to make either of them angry as it might result in great pain for him. _

"_Yeah we she knows nothing about it!"_

_Joey glared at him. "I was there, moron! I should know… and don't look at me like that!" she retorted pointing her finger at him. _

_Pacey heaved a sigh and turned his head back to the window. _

_There was something Pacey didn't want to reveal, Joey felt, and maybe he was right, maybe it had nothing to do with our relationship. Unfortunately Pacey's self-hating might be one of the causes of their failing marriage. _

_Gerry felt it was wise to proceed with caution. "Maybe you would like to say it in your own time, Mr. Witter." He paused. "Is it to do with this Dawson character?"_

_Pacey turned towards his councillor and raised his eyebrows. "Dawson? Ice hockey? Him? Ha. He couldn't even catch a ball."_

"_Shut up Pacey!" Joey snapped. _

"_It's the truth. Anyway, don't shout at me. You're the one making this difficult. Like Mr. Walsh wants to hear about Ice Hockey anyway."_

_Gerry's face lit up. "I love Ice Hockey! Have you been to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto?"_

_Joey scowled. "We went there for our honey moon."_

_Pacey laughed. "We went to Toronto for our honeymoon. And there it was! What's your favourite team? Have you ever seen the Stanley Cup?"_

"_Pacey!" Joey shouted. "Get back to the subject!"_

_He rested his head in his hands and closed his eyes for a second. "The things I do for you Josephine, the things I do for you."_

"_Call me Josephine again and I'll kick you in the-_

"Shins?" Gerry suggested.

Joey looked at him. "Not quite…" 

_Pacey looked out of the window again. Joey realised that retelling this story would be more painful for Pacey then even if she had kicked him in the… shins. _

_Pacey sighed, "Ok. Well it happened when we were 10 years old…"_

Joey and Dawson laid on their stomachs over his bed, with their eyes glued to the television screen. In front of then E.T was saying his goodbye to Elliot. The two friends clasped their hands together tightly and as E.T was about to say his farewell a groan cam from beneath them.

Joey frowned and look down at the foot of the bed where a dark haired boy with a slack jawed face sat. Dawson who had become obsessed with Spielberg didn't take his eyes of the screen. However the moment for Joey was ruined. "Will you shut up? This is the best part of the movie?"

Just then the credits rolled on to the screen and Joey looked up at the screen with regret – she'd just missed her favourite part.

"You're right Potter, these credits are the best part of the movie. It means we don't have to see anymore of that sappy crap anymore," Pacey replied with a grin.

Joey slapped him on the head.

"Ow, what did you do that for?" Pacey asked, rubbing his head where it was most sore.

Dawson just looked at his two best friends and shook his head.

"Come on D man," Pacey pleaded, "when can we watch some real movies like 'Die, Potter Die'." Pacey laughed at his own joke whilst Joey looked at him unamused. "Seriously though man, when can we watch a good film?"

The trio had ended up watching Hook and E.T. Pacey wanted some action!

"Ok you suffered enough," agreed Dawson. "I've got Evil Dead right here."

"NO!" Joey panicked. The boys stared at her amused.

"Scared Potter?" Pacey joked.

"No…uh… um… it's just that…" trailed Joey. "You have an Ice Hockey game tomorrow. You need sleep. Your dad will want you home!"

Pacey laughed slightly. "Yeah right. But you're right about the game.

"You agree with me for once?" Joey asked, intrigued.

"No. I just know you like being right, and I don't want you to cry or anything. Or get nightmares in the night, Josephine."

"I swear to God Pace, you call me that again and I'll kick you in the-

"Shins?" Dawson suggested.

Joey glared. "Not what I was thinking"

Gerry looked up at them. "This is the bad memory? This is what upsets you? Your wife wanting to kick you in the…shins?"

_Joey and Pacey both looked at each other and smiled slightly for the first time all day. _

"_Mr. Walsh, if that was the case I wouldn't be married to her. I do love her violence. I got over that in a miniscule second." Pacey rubbed his stubbly chin. "Nah, it wasn't that. It was… Oh… It was…"_

"_Get on with it," Joey urged. She spoke softly though, as if she almost understood. _

The sharp sound of blades echoed in through his ears, the sound was familiar and comforting to him. On the ice he felt he could do anything. Even make his father proud. This was Pacey's goal. This was the one place he could show the small-minded folks of Capeside that he was not a no good for nothing black sheep. He looked around the stadium and his chest puffed up with pride. All his life all he could remember his father shouting or scolding, or asking why he couldn't be like Douglas. No it was his chance to make his father proud of him. Not Doug. Not Gretchen. Him. Pacey.

The whistle blew and the coach called him in,

"Right Pacey," the coach said. "I know you usually play left-wing forward but I've been watching you over the last few weeks kid, and I think you're better than that. You're strong, you're fast, and you're damn good at attacking the other team, especially with those penalties. So I'm moving you to Centre forward."

"Seriously?" Pacey stared, gobsmakced.

"You have to be fast, and cover more ice than anyone else. I expect you to backcheck quickly from the opposing zone and most importantly, win the game."

Joey stared down the programme. "Mum, look, Pacey is playing Centre forward. And he's… he's Captain."

The coach smiled at Pacey. "Oh and kid, you're also Captain. Your gonna lead team, and show Providence what Capeside is made off. Your old man is gonna be proud of you tonight."

Pacey nodded, "I hope so coach. Thank you so much."

"Just shut up and play!" he joked. "Save the smush for your girlfriend."

"Who?" Pacey replied.

The coach nodded at Joey smiling in the corner. "She's cute. Just make her proud."

Pacey laughed and blushed, "She's not my girlfriend! Her? No way."

"She will be," the coach replied. "After you win the game. Every girl likes a guy who can play sports. And you know, she must like you because not many girls like sports or watch them at her age."

Pacey grinned and went onto the ice. He threw a wave in Joey's direction casually. Joey? Girlfriend? That was laughable. But he wasn't laughing.

The second whistle blew. And the first half started. It seemed to drag on for ages. Providence were slaughtering them. The whistle finally blew for half time. Capeside were only a goal behind. Pacey smiled, it as still in reach.

Pacey skated over to the rink, looking around for his dad.

Joey called out to him. "Great play Pacey! I mean um… for an amateur. Anyway if you're looking for Dawson, he couldn't come. He had to visit Aunt Gwen."

Pacey gave a half smile and skated over to her. "I was actually looking for my dad. He promised he'd come. Maybe he's gone to get a drink or something."

Joey and Joey's mother exchanged glances.

Lily sighed, "Of course Pacey."

Pacey stared. "What is it?"

Lily sighed again. "I'm sure he tried to make it Pacey. Maybe work got busy or…" she trailed off. "He's not here Pace."

Pacey desperately tried to hide his disappointment. "No, ok, that's cool. That's alright. Yeah, I'm a, sure he tried to come. Uh, any sign of Doug or uh Grech?"

Joey perked up slightly. "Yeah, Gretchen came Pacey. She couldn't stay but, but you should of heard her cheering when she saw you come on as captain. She had to go home and finish her project but I'm sure she'll tell your dad-"

"Yeah, I'm sure she will," Pacey replied with a slightly smile. "I have to go."

He skated off.

Lily smiled, "He is a sweet boy."

Joey stared and stared at her, "Stop saying that Mom!"

The whistle blew again. Pacey skated around the rink so fast as if he was on fire. He could hardly see where he was going because tears began to cloud his eyes. Suddenly a providence centre wing came at him from the right, where Pacey didn't expect and smacked him straight in the back, sending Pacey flying onto the floor.

"Pacey!" Joey screamed. Then retreated to her seat embarrassed.

Pacey climbed up, shaking off a limp. "I'm fine," he told the referee. The referee gave Capeside the penalty that they needed.

The coach nodded as Pacey. He wanted him to take the deciding penalty. If he scored, Capeside would win. If he missed, Capeside could draw or maybe loose.

Pacey could feel his left leg bleeding. He shook away the pain. Witters weren't quitters. He drew back his stick, and looked at the puck. He imagined it was his dad. "Damn you!" he whispered, and smacked the puck straight into the goal. Suddenly the stadium erupted.

Pacey turned around and realised he'd won the game. He was too mad to acknowledge the cheers. He had done this for his dad and he wasn't there. He said he would be there. He promised.

He saw Joey and Lily clapping him. He gave them a smile but as he walked towards the changing rooms he could feel his heart sink.

"Good man!" the Coach said, patting him on the back. "I knew you could do it."

Pacey knew it wasn't the right moment to tell him he had quit, but he had. From this day, he'd never play ice hockey again. Ever.

He got into the car quietly. Joey's mom had to drop him home because there was no one else, and it was too late to go home alone.

Lily praised him all the way home and he smiled politely, but it was too painful to talk. He put his life into ice hockey. He hardly had time for any school work because he had practise, and the one time he did good, his dad wasn't there.

Joey's mum dropped him outside his house. "Joey sweetie, walk Pacey to the door will you."

Joey and Pacey walked to the door.

"You were great tonight," Joey said. "For a cretin."

"Not now Joey."

"Seriously, you were."

Pacey found the door open and took one look inside.

His dad was sprawled over the couch, drunk to the bone. "Where the hell have you been?" he shouted.

"Nowhere…" Pacey muttered.

"He was at his Ice-hockey game," Joey inserted. "He was Captain, and they won!"

"Don't bother Joey…" Pacey mumbled.

"No! He played centre-forward for the first time tonight. And he was fantastic. He scored the winning penalty even though he'd just been smacked down by the other team."

Joey's mom came up behind her. "Come on sweetie, back to the car. You too Pacey."

Pacey's father laughed. "I tell my boy what to do. It isn't your right."

Joey's mom glared at him, a similar glare to Joey's glare. ""No, until you learn how to be a proper father to this brilliant, wonderful boy, you have no right to tell him what to do. Go on kids."

When Lily and John were alone she turned to him and quietly mumbled, "John, lay of the bourbon. Your kid needed you tonight."

She walked back. "Come on you two, back to my house. You can stay the night Pacey."

"Thank you Mrs. Potter," he replied.

They bundled into the little car and back to the house.

By the time they'd arrived, Pacey had cheered up a little. "So Potter, do I get to sleep in your bed, like you and Dawson do?" he joked, grinning.

Joey laughed. "In your dreams."

"Maybe it will be."

They got into sleeping bags and tried to rest. Within a few hours Joey woke up to the sound of muffled crying. She said nothing but got out of bed and gave Pacey a hug. He may be a cretin. But he could be nice.


	5. The Kiss

A/N: Thank you for all those who reviewed our last chapter! We love you dearly and we hope you had a nice summer!

Pacey looked around the office, irritated. "So are we done yet? Because I need to go and kill myself, Can't be late you see…"

_Joey rolled her eyes and rubbed his arm, "Oh Pacey, you have lots of time to do that," she replied mockingly._

"_And I thought I could depend on my wife…"_

_Gerry sighed, "So um, I guess we're making good progress then," he muttered uncertainly. _

"_Really?" Pacey said, jumping up, "So we can go?"_

_Joey grabbed him and dragged him down, "Sit down!"_

_Gerry smiled. "You're not quite ready to waltz towards the sunset yet, Mr. Witter. Happily ever after doesn't come easy, you know."_

"_We know," Pacey and Joey both replied throwing each other looks of contempt._

_Gerry looked uneasy, "So, let's talk about your when you first consummated your love."_

_Pacey stared, "You want to know about when we had sex?" he stared, unimpressed. _

_Gerry laughed, "No, no, when you first kissed! The first truly romantic moment is when you first kiss…when you touch each other in a way friends don't."_

_Joey smiled, "Well it was our first year of High School. I was tutoring Pacey because he was failing Biology…"_

"_I wasn't failing!" Pacey argued._

"_Yes you were. Anyway…"_

"_Firstly, I wasn't failing, and secondly that wasn't our first kiss!"_

_Gerry shook his head. Couples argued about many things. But the Witters were even arguing about kissing. KISSING._

"_Yes it was," Joey argued. "Unless you're talking about the trip back from Boston. Cause you know, that really wasn't our first…"_

"_Uh Joey, a kiss anywhere counts as a kiss…"_

"_If there are weird sexual undertones in that sentence, I don't want to know…"_

_Pacey laughed. "No, no… This was truly innocent, completely pure, and really… quite sweet."_

Joey, Pacey and Dawson strolled into the classroom. It was Christmas time. The room looked like a burglar had stolen all of the things in Lapland and dumped them in the middle of their classroom. There were trees, tinsel, bells, cheap flashing lights, and most significantly mistletoe.

It was the last day of school. Everyone was excited. Kissing under the mistletoe was the yearly tradition. It was only on the cheek but a kiss was a kiss. Usually it was all the popular girls who got kissed, the cheerleaders, school representatives. Joey didn't feel she fell into that category, she hated boys, at times she wished she was one, but this year she had Dawson. She could kiss Dawson.

Pacey looked around. He wanted to kiss the prettiest girl in the class. His eye was on Britney, blonde hair, blue eyes and certain other features.

Dawson looked at him, "No way. No Pace, I know what you're thinking… But you do not have a chance. Not until hell freezes over."

"Well it's Christmas, it's the time of year hell becomes cold."

Dawson shook his head. "Pacey why would you even want to kiss her? She's all hair and no substance. She's not a real girl! She's superficial and shallow!"

Pacey grinned. "And who would you consider a real girl? Joey Potter? Yeah right!"

"Shut up, Cretin!" Joey shouted, pushing him aside, and walking off.

Dawson stared after her. "I think you actually upset her Pacey…"

"Oh come off it, she hates being called a girl. Try calling her Josephine and she'll kill you. I was paying her a compliment."

Dawson gave him a look. "You know she's sensitive, Pacey. Now her Mum is kinda ill and all that…"

Pacey stopped. "Will she be alright?"

Dawson shrugged, "You should be worried if Joey's alright."

"She'll get over it!" He paused. "But because you're such a good friend of mine, and in the Christmas spirit, I could possibly summon up an apology."

"Good. You know Pacey, you try really hard to not like Joey, but I know you've got a soft spot for her."

"Yeah. One day we're gonna be married and have children," he said jokily. "Of course I'll have to steal her of you and you'll never talk to me again."

Dawson laughed. "In your dreams… she's just a friend. Only a friend."

Pacey laughed. "Whatever! I have sucking up to do."

He walked over and sat next to Joey. "Miss Potter, and I emphasis the word Miss so that you know you are a girl…"

Joey looked at him darkly. "What do you want?"

"I've been sent to you from the angels above to firstly apologise, and secondly, make sure you're ok."

"Why?" Joey asked, annoyed. "Because Santa knows if you've been bad or good?" she questioned sarcastically.

Pacey put his arms around her. "You know… Santa Claus doesn't really exist Joey. That's just a myth."

Matt sauntered over to them, a smirk curling on his lips, "Look everyone!" His booming vice caught the attention of everyone in the room. "Joey and Pacey getting cosy in the corner…"

The class stared at them and laughed. Joey's face burned with embarrassment and Pacey looked towards Britney who he was surprised to see was laughing at him.

Matt laughed, "Oh… Look… MISTLETOE! You have to kiss. Pacey and Joey, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love… then comes marriage… then comes a baby in a baby carriage." Soon all the rest of the class except Dawson began to chant and Joey looked like she would explode. The sounds kept ringing in her ears repeating over and over.

Joey stood up, "Shut up Matt! Or you won't be kissing anyone cause I've knocked your teeth out."

The class jeered. Joey may be by far the tallest girl in the class. But no one could hurt Matt, he was the class bully, always had been since kindergarten.

"KISS!"

"KISS!"

"KISS!"

"KISS!"

The class crowded around the pair in excitement. Dawson looked away. He was cringing for both of his friends, and wanted to save Joey from the humiliation.

Pacey pulled Joey down, "Look if we give them a kiss, they'll shut up."

Before Joey had time to argue Pacey had planted a small kiss on her cheek.

It wasn't small enough.

There was a pause where the class 'oohed' and 'awed'.

Pacey turned to smile at Joey who looked mortified.

"What are you doing, jerk? Don't ever touch me again!" She pushed him away.

"Joey!" Pacey sighed.

Joey pushed through the crowds and moved away.

Pacey smiled, "Who's next?"

Joey ran into the girl's toilets, and sat on the sink. This was a weird day. She held her head in her hands, depressed. She thought she'd be kissing Dawson.

Right then Dawson walked in. "Joey, are you ok?"

Joey looked up. "This is the girls bathroom Dawson. Get out."

"I brought mistletoe. We can make up for before!" he said eagerly, hanging it above his head. "You'll feel better!"

"Dawson, this is the girls bathroom. The girls bathroom!"

Dawson looked down at the floor sheepishly, "Sorry… sorry… I'll go."

He walked out of the room.

Joey jumped off the sink and looked into the mirror. Her face was red, but not out of embarrassment. Pacey kissed her. Her first kiss from a boy. She was red with excitement. She touched her cheek tenderly.

_Joey laughed. "You know, I only washed that cheek after like, a week!"_

_Pacey grinned surprised, "Really? You had a crush on me! You had a thang for me!"_

"_Shut up!" She said playfully. "I did not have a 'thang' for you."_

"_Oh right, sorry, you had a thing for me!"_

_Joey and Pacey laughed, as he put his arm around her. _

_Gerry grinned. "Finally! Some affection. So we've achieved task number one. You're actually acting like a couple, not children. Now task number two, get find out what really went wrong…"_


	6. Sorrow and a Hero

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed our last chapter! Sorry this chapter took some time, school has been crazy to say the least. Hope you enjoy the new chapter! Please please please read and review!

The sight that greeted Gerry as he entered room was one that didn't completely make his heart jump for joy but at least it was better than his first view of the Witters. The first time he had seen them they were ready to throw daggers at each other. But now there was a sense of calm in the room. Gerry didn't know if it was a sustainable calm or the calm before the storm. Mr Witter was standing up and looking outside the window with his left arm leaning against it.

_Mrs Witter was sitting on the couch reading a medical magazine about autism but Gerry caught her glancing at her husband regularly. His presence wasn't known until he coughed. Both Joey and Pacey jumped slightly but recovered quickly _

" _I thought you were never coming back," Pacey said with a slight smile._

"_Must have been all the tea I had" replied Gerry. He reminded himself not to drink so much tea as it was making him feel drowsy and have the need to use the bathroom so much._

"_So…did the two of you have a chance to talk about your…situation?"_

_Both looked away from Gerry and he sighed, "Okay let's get back to what we were doing."_

_He sat down in his chair and crossed his legs and brought his clipboard to his lap and brought his fingertips together. "Right…" he began uncertainly. Both Pacey and Joey stared at him blankly and Gerry shook his head. "Oh come on, we've just made real progress here don't you think we should be moving forward not staying put!"_

_Still all he got was blank stares. He sighed and decided to proceed with small talk. He noticed that Mrs Witter had been stroking her stomach throughout his rant._

"_So how many weeks left?" he said inclining his head to Joey's stomach._

"_Oh…about six weeks," she replied with a warm smile spreading across her face._

"_Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" he asked with a grin, it was comforting to know that both Mr and Mrs Witter had broken out of their self pitying stage._

"_Well…mister over here thinks it's a boy…-"_

"_What do you mean think it's a boy," Pacey interrupted "with the way it kicks it has to be a boy!"_

_Joey rolled her eyes and shared a secret smile with Gerry. Gerry was glad that he was finally on track and all he had to do was use small talk._

"_So you must be excited about becoming a mother," Gerry suggested to Joey. Suddenly it was as if a light had gone off in her eyes and Joey averted her gaze to the floor._

_Gerry knew she had retreated somewhere back in her memories and neither he or her husband could reach her._

Emptiness. That was all she could feel, emptiness. The creek had lost its beauty to her. It didn't seem like the fantastical place she had grown up in. Everywhere she looked she felt a sharp stab inside her.

She looked at the porch chairs in front of her house, which was where she and her mum had their private talks when no one else was allowed. Joey could hear her mother's voice in her head.

It was so real that Joey nearly turned around to see if her mother was there. But she knew nothing was there except air.

"**_What's_ _wrong Jo? You know you can always talk to me."_**

If only that was true. Joey then turned to the rowboat, the one her father had bought so that the family always had a way across the creek, and a sense of nostalgia hit her.

Remembering how she and her mother used to have their special picnics on that boat. They would row right out into the middle of the creek where no one could reach them. They were cut off from the whole world.

In the winter her mother would always bring blankets so that they could be warm. She would also bring hot chocolate so that she and Joey could drink in the warmth.

In the summer Joey's mother would always bring Joey's favourite, cookies-n-cream ice cream. They would both wait till the ice cram was near melting point then they would dig their spoons in and let the thick creamy choc chips dissolve****in their mouths.

Joey wished she had some of that ice cream at that moment but Bessie had been too busy to pick it up at the store.

"**God Jo, the world doesn't revolve around you!"**

That was the opposite of how Joey felt. She wished she could shut the whole world out. She wished for so many things but the one thing she wanted the most was to have her mother back.

"Mom," she choked silently. The tears trickled down her face slowly but gradually she sobbed into her hands. "Why did she have to go? Why her?" she asked herself angrily. Joey knew she was ill but who ever imagines a life without a mother? Mothers take care of you when you're ill or upset… they give you advice when you're stuck or confused… they act as a friend when you need a hand or a talk. Most importantly they shower you with unconditional love whenever, wherever, however.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve. She hated crying, she hated being weak. Her eyes were sore and she felt cold sitting on her own at the edge of her dock.

She didn't want to go inside yet otherwise that would mean going into a kitchen that used to be filled with a smell of warmth but that was now hollow and dank. It would mean that her mother's room would be there, empty.

It would also mean facing her father and her sister. She wasn't ready yet.

She was hoping that Dawson would be coming soon. She just wanted to forget reality and get transported into a world of fantasy and adventure. Her hope was soon restored when in the distance she could see a faint blonde head coming up the creek.

She wiped her eyes, even though Dawson had seen her cry before. She stood up, her heart bating faster and faster, finally someone that could help her forget the memories and the pain.

Then she saw a head of dark hair. Of course the cretin had to come. He was so pathetic he had nothing better to do. She was not in the mood for his teasing. She was just going to ignore him and just focus on the fact that Dawson was here for her.

Dawson leapt out of the boat onto the dock. He ran to Joey and embraced her in a strong bear hug. However she didn't cry into him. Her crying was reserved only for her mother. Dawson reached for her head and clung to it. A sign that he was there for her.

A simple gesture told everything and this was a time that Dawson knew that words were helpless. And there they stood just being them. Dawson and Joey.

"Oohh, Dawson and Joey sittin' in a tree, H-U-G-G-I-N-G."

And just like that the couple had become a trio. Joey broke away from Dawson and glared at him. How could he have brought that cretin along when it was their time? Dawson hung his head, wincing from Joey's piercing stare.

"Ah, you don't have to stop because of me. I'll just be keeping my distance and vomiting," said Pacey breaking the silence.

"Now's not the time Pace," Dawson replied quietly. Pacey stared blankly at his friend and turned to Joey, who was looking down and chewing on her lip furiously.

"So Josephine. What's new today? I see you have a new look. I didn't know red puffy eyes were the new trend," Pacey smirked.

"You know what? Why don't you go into a dark room and wait for your brain to grow? Then you can make better use of your time," Joey fired back.

"Oh, that really hurts Josephine," Pacey feigned hurt status "Not very lady-like don't you think? Maybe you could learn to be a real girl from Bessie or your mom," he chuckled "though you could never be like your mom."

Joey raised her head and looked directly at Pacey and raised her fist. He awaited the beatings but they never came. Instead something worse happened.

"I hate you! And I never want to see you again!" Joey said in her coldest and most menacing voice. Suddenly she started to cry. Hot tears pricked at her eyes. She tried to hold them back but she ended up choking on them.

She was sobbing and the tears were streaming down her face. Dawson tried to reach for her hand but she pushed him away. She turned away from the boys; one that was able to push the pain down and the other with just a flick could bring all that pain to rise up to the surface.

Dawson watched Joey run towards her house. He winced as the door slammed.

"I can never understand that girl. I only told her the usual thing I say to her," Pacey said breaking the silence once again. Dawson turned slowly and Pacey could see that he had taken Joey's side again. Pacey sighed. He had always stood up for Dawson whenever anyone offended him. Why couldn't he do it for Pacey?

"What you said was out of order Pace," Dawson replied sternly. Pacey just sighed again. A sigh that was so familiar whenever Joey was involved.

"Ah come on. This sort of thing happens everyday. What's so wrong about it now?" Pacey asked with frustration in his voice.

"Because Joey's mom died yesterday!" Dawson shouted. He liked Pacey a lot. He was like a brother to him but sometimes he could be a real ass. Pacey's face fell. He looked down at his shoes. It was as if all his confidence and bravado had been sucked out of him.

"I…I didn't know," Pacey whispered.

"Yeah well, next time think before you say something," Dawson replied, though less angry as he should have told Pacey before taking him to visit Joey.

"I'm gonna see Joey now," Dawson said quietly and he walked slowly towards the Potter house. Pacey was left alone. He sighed and looked towards Joey's bedroom window.

"Go away!" was the reply Dawson got when he knocked on Joey's door. He had come upstairs to her room in the hope of reuniting his two best friends. However in a situation like this he wasn't sure that a quiet friendly word was going to work.

He sighed. "Come on Jo, let me in. I just want to talk."

"That cretin isn't with you is he?" Joey asked suspicious.

"Jo, Pacey does have common sense even if he lacks some intelligence," Dawson replied, feeling guilty about insulting his friend behind his back just to get into Joey's good books.

The door opened a fraction and Dawson could see Joey's eyes registering the hallway, just in case Pacey was lurking around the corner. Dawson raised his eyebrows and folded his arms. It was always hard for Joey to trust other people even if they were her one and only best friend in the whole wide world.

The door creaked open and Dawson stepped into the room Joey shared with her sister. It was easy to tell which side of the room belonged to which sister. The half closest to the door was slightly messy, t-shirts lay on the floor and askew socks were scattered across the desk. There were a few posters of bands and TV shows plastered across the wall. Dawson knew this was Bessie's side.

Joey's half of the room was the complete opposite. Everything was in order and neat. The only picture on the wall was of her and her mother. Her mother was smiling and hugging Joey. Joey caught Dawson staring at it and went to take the picture down. She placed in her desk drawer and slammed it shut. She sat on her bed and glared at him.

"Sorry," Dawson said quietly "It's a good picture."

"It _was_ a good picture," Joey replied darkly. Dawson sat down on Bessie's bed opposite Joey.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Joey said deadpan. Dawson rose up quickly, remembering the last time he had sat on Bessie's bed. He shuddered. He pulled the desk chair out from under the desk and placed it in front of Joey and sat down on it and smiled at her.

Joey leaned towards him and he could see that she had been crying a lot. The smile left his lips immediately.

"Look Pacey didn't know I swear. He just thought it was another normal day," he said reproachfully. Joey didn't answer, she couldn't be bothered. Dawson got up and sat down next to her. She tried to move away but he placed his hand around her shoulder firmly so that she couldn't move any further.

Although Joey liked it whenever he was close to her she didn't like it when it was against her will.

"Let go of me Dawson," she said through gritted teeth.

"Jo, you can be angry but vent your anger at the right person. I don't know who that person is but it's not Pacey or yourself."

Joey looked up at him and wrapped her arms around him. She needed him but she also needed to talk to that other boy that was waiting outside. Joey buried her head into Dawson's neck but like before she didn't cry in front of him.

Pacey sat at the end of the Potter's dock with his chin cupped in his hands. His legs were dangling above the creek and his eyebrows were furrowed. He thought about Joey and her mother. Joey's mom had always been caring towards him.

When Joey had once nearly pushed him under the dark murky waters of the creek, Lillian Potter had dove in and hauled him out of the water silently praying to God that the young boy would live while scolding her daughter for doing such a wicked thing.

Pacey also remembered he would often see Joey and her mother in their little rowing boat having a picnic in the middle of the creek when he went fishing with his sister Gretchen. Sometimes Pacey wished he could be in that boat with them.

One thing that had always confused Pacey was that he never received love from his own parents but his friend's parents treated him like their own son. And now one of those people that appreciated him for who he was had gone. To top that off he had lost one of his best friends all because of his big mouth.

Pacey swore at himself and ducked his head down feeling even more depressed that he had lost Joey as a friend. _"She was annoying,"_ the thought but she was always there to bring him back to his senses. He almost felt like crying. At times he was arrogant, cocky and a general pain in the neck but right now he felt sensitive, upset, and downright stupid.

Suddenly there was a creak on the dock. Pacey lifted his head slowly and turned towards the sound. There stood Joey. She was chewing her lip; a sign Pacey knew that meant she was nervous. She looked pale and her eyes were red.

Pacey stood up slowly and jammed his hands into the pockets of his shorts. He walked slowly toward her, his head bowed. His mouth felt dry. He didn't know what to say.

"I…I'm sorry," he said finally looking at her in the eyes. Joey nodded. Pacey raised his arm to pat her on the shoulder. Joey stood looking into his ocean blue eyes and she just couldn't do it anymore. She couldn't keep up this pretence any more. It just hurt too much. She was so angry with her mother for leaving her that she broke down.

Pacey's heart melted. He watched as Joey shook so violently but at the same time she seemed so vulnerable. He instinctly grabbed her and pulled her to his chest. Joey rested her heads against his shoulder, collapsing into her as if a large weight had been liftsed of her shoulder. She knew he wouldn't mock as he had once shared the pain of what parents could do to you. Pacey slowly wrapped his arms around her, nervously and with apprehension. He felt Joey relax in his arms. She knew she was safe here.

There they stood with the sound of Joey's pain blending into the sound of the strong breeze surrounding them as time moved past them but that moment standing still in time.

"Joey! Joey!" Pacey called to her but he seemed a million miles away.

"Mrs Witter are you okay? Here drink this it might make you feel better," a voice echoed around her.

Pacey grasped her shoulders and bent down so that his eye level met with hers. Joey found she was swimming in his deep blue-ocean eyes. Pacey shook her slightly and called to her name more softly "Joey, it's me Pacey can you hear me?"

_Joey took a sip of water and Pacey's voice became clearer. She looked at his face and could see the worry etched into it. She turned to her right and found Mr Walsh kneeling down by her looking very concerned._

_She turned back to Pacey and started to sob. Pacey grasped her tightly and he could hear she was mumbling something into his chest. "What? What was that?" he asked softly, pulling back so he could see her tear strained face._

"_I…can't…do…it," she said through gulps of air._

"_You can't do what Jo?" Pacey asked with urgency in his voice._

"_I… can't…be…a…mother," she replied "even… you… said… so."_

_Gerry looked a t Pacey in surprise but Pacey ignored him, he kept his eyes on Joey._

"_When did I say that?" Pacey asked, confusion lacing his tone._

"_It…was…when…my…mother…died. You…said…I…could…never…be…like…my…mom"_

_Pacey frowned but the he remembered and looked at Joey slightly hurt that she would remember that part of the history where Pacey had been a total jackass._

"_Yeah but I was a stupid kid back then. I didn't know what I was saying. Hey!" he had let his right hand loose from Joey's shoulder, and brought it to cup her chin so she could look at him "I think you'll be a great mother and I have always wanted you to be the mother of my child Can't think of anyone better."_

_Joey looked at him and started to smile slightly. Pacey pulled her into him and she buried her face into the crook of his neck. Pacey glanced at Gerry over Joey's shoulder and both were sharing the same thought._

_We have a long way to go._


	7. Sinking Deeper

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed our last chapter! Sorry it has been so long – we will try to update sooner!

Disclaimer: We do not own Dawson's creek. But we are saving up to buy it! Right now we have $2.

Gerry sighed tapping his fingers on his temples, 'God, what a day,' he thought. The Witter's were probably the most difficult case had had… well, after his own marriage. Normally he would just tell the couples to divorce and send them home. This time, with Mrs Witter pregnant, he couldn't.

Gerry looked into his cabinet. All he could see was tea. He needed something stronger. Next thing he knew, he was heading to the bar a couple of blocks away. He came up to the bar and muttered, "Scotch please buddy."

The bar man grinned at him. Gerry was a regular. "Bad day?"

"Oh the worst. I have this couple right. And all they do is fight."

"Isn't that what you're suppose to fix?"

"Yeah I know but these two like they argue about little things, like a kiss when they were eight. Or when they were ten. Or eight. I don't care. And the women, she's nine months pregnant. Or nearly. I haven't had to deal with a pregnant person since my wife. And that ended in divorce."

"Maybe you're in the wrong job, buddy," a different voice spoke.

Gerry turned around preparing to give a rude remark when he came face to with the guy he was bitching about.

Pacey smiled. "Isn't there a thing called client confidentiality?"

Gerry swallowed nervously. "Hi Mr Witter. How are you?"

Pacey just stared at him,

"Please don't sue. I didn't mean any of it. It's just been a long day, you know."

Pacey stared at him and chuckled. "Just get me a drink. I need one. Desperately."

Gerry smiled. "Well I know pregnant women and coming home drunk is not a good idea."

Pacey raised an eyebrow. "Well if I come home sober, I will remember our fight. If I come back drunk, I won't. Perhaps you're right. But you think you've had a hard day? I live with that every day."

"You live with…that?" said the barman.

"I don't mean her. Just the fighting. The stress. The insecurities. God, I love her. But then… she just pushes me away."

The barman noticed that he was slurring his words through his ramblings. " Looks like he's already drunk. Guess you won't need another drink."

"I'll tell you when I've had another. I can handle my drink perfectly. ALWAYS HAVE. Dawson, he's got drunk at his birthday party when he was sixteen. Joey gets drunk all the time, well maybe not now. Jen, hell, Jen could get drunk any day of the week. It isn't pretty. Or it wasn't." He slumped down, banging his head on the bar.

Gerry stared at him. "Are you ok?"

"I think I have a concussion."

Gerry helped him up. "Maybe I should take you back."

"What? Bringing the shrink home? Not a good idea. Joey hates you."

Gerry looked the other side. "Oh. Thanks."

"No offence buddy. You're just, well. I think you're fantastic. But she thinks you're an idiot."

Gerry sighed. "Great I've got hit on by a guy, I've been insulted, nearly lost my job and I haven't even had a drink."

The bar man smiled. "That's usual night, isn't it?"

Gerry laughed dryly.

Pacey laughed. "What? You think I was hitting on you? You would know if I was hitting on you. Anyway since I got married, I don't hit on anybody. Which, if you knew me, you would realise that is a big deal. Joey is the one with issues."

Gerry pulled Pacey up, attempting to drag him home. "So what's that suppose to mean?"

Pacey wagged his finger drunkenly. "Now now, let's save that for therapy."

Gerry raised an eyebrow. "Do you have friends? Anyone? I mean you two don't seem to have the attitude to have friends."

Pacey slurred, "We have lots of friends. There's Jack, he's gay, with my brother. Oh well, at least Joey can't sleep with him. Again."

Gerry stared at him in shock.

"Just joking, they didn't sleep together. They just made out. Then there's Will, he's mainly my friend."

"You didn't make out with _him_, did you?"

"No. Then there's Dawson. Well, you know about Dawson."

"Not entirely."

"Dawson. Dawson is Mr. Perfect."

Gerry looked deep in thought. "Hey is that Dawson as in Dawson Leery, the guy who wrote The Creek?"

Pacey sighed, "Bingo."

"My daughter watches that show. All the time. I find that Sam character really annoying."

"Hey! Sam is my wife."

Gerry suddenly realised. "The Creek is based on your lives? So you must be Petey?"

"Yeah. Whats happening at the moment? Am I cheating on my best friend?"

"No, that was last season. Now you're going out with this Agatha girl. Blonde."

"That doesn't particually limit my choices. Andie? Audrey? Jen? They are all blonde. Miss Jacobs? God."

Gerry just gasped. "This explains everything. Right. We have a lot to do in therapy. I'll buy the boxset. We can watch it."

Pacey cursed the air with harsh words. "Urgh. No wonder Joey hates you."

Gerry smiles. "Hey, she hates you more then she hates me."

"Not possible," Pacey replied.

Gerry smiles. 'We'll see about that when home."

Gerry knocked on Joeys door. He looked around. It was a nice place. It had taken him half an hour as Pacey was so drunk he couldn't remember where he lived.

Joey opened the door wearing her PJs. She scowled when she opened the door. "I'm tired. I'm pregnant. And I'm not in the mood. What do you want? Because if you want to go through my past again. I've had enough."

Gerry sighed. "Firstly, I can watch The Creek to do that now. Secondly, I thought you might want your husband back."

Joey looked down at Pacey who was unconscious.

'Seriously? He's so drunk he needed the shrink to take him back home? God Pacey. Get up. What is wrong with you?" She kicked his foot. "We've been through a whole day of therapy and you just go and get wasted?"

Gerry smiled slightly, amused. Joey and Paceys relationship was so similar to the one he had with his wife. "He can't hear you."

Joey looked disappointed and crossed her arms. She moved to the side. "Put him on the couch."

Gerry walked inside and noticed their beautiful reception room which was covered in pictures of Joey and Pacey looking extremely happy.

Gerry picked up one photo. It was of Pacey, Joey and two others which he suspected to be this Dawson character and another girl. He couldn't help but to think the unknown girl was cute. He looked up and Joey. "You look so happy in this picture. What happened?"

Joey sighed. "Life." She looked at Pacey and sighed as he snored on the couch.


	8. The morning after the night before

A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed! It gets a bit darker here – but they are seeing a marriage councillor for a reason!

Pacey slowly opened his eyes and looked around what he now recognised as his living room. The ringing in his ears was getting dimmer and the room had finally stopped spinning. He groaned as he felt his head throbbing. What a night. He could hardly remember most of it. He remembered Gerry and a scotch. Or maybe a few more scotches. He distinctly remembered a nosy barman and a noisy bar. The rest was kind of a murky blur.

He sat up and rubbed his head, which he could still feel throbbing. He heard a door slam as Joey entered the room.

She looked over at him and rolled her eyes. "Glad to see you've finally got up." She looked at the clock and back at him.

"Joey, you mind not slamming the doors?" he asked groggily.

"Oh, you mean like this?" she asked rhetorically before slamming the room door again.

He buried his head again. "Um, yeah. That's it."

Joey smiled to herself. "Oh, sorry. But the doctor says it's good for the baby to slam doors. Apparently it will help it become used to the environment he or she will be growing up in." She paused for a moment, "How dare you bring that… smarmy… guy around?"

Pacey opened one eye. "Doug?"

Joey looked at him for a moment. "No not you're brother. You really don't remember? You really got that wasted that you can't remember… you can't remember that you brought the shrink round here! Oh my god, Pacey. I don't believe you."

"Who is the shrink? What are you rambling about?"

"You couldn't even remember where you lived last night?"

Pacey groaned and stood up. "Well maybe I don't want to know where I live anymore!" He said in a cold voice. "Is this my morning welcome? How about some breakfast?"

"How dare you… I'm the one who is pregnant. You are supposed to be looking after me. You go crying of to the next bar. You have got some nerve, Pace. I'm eight months pregnant. If I was pregnant with - "

"Don't you even start Jo!"

"If I was pregnant with anyone else. Anyone! Dawson, AJ, Charlie even. And what about Jack? He's gay and he is great with Amy and would have looked after Jen if she'd asked."

Pacey started groaning becoming steadily more and more irritated by Joey, "For God sake Joey! You want to get pregnant with one of them, then go ahead. I bet Dawson would love a piece of you."

"Pacey don't even start. Don't turn this into your problem."

"You used his name in the first place! And basically said you'd rather be pregnant with a gay guy then me!"

"I did not say that!"

"Yes you did!" Pacey didn't know what to say. He was so frustrated. "Joey, you make me so mad! Whatever happened last night, can't have been so terrible. So the shrink came around? Big deal! Just because you're in a bitchy mood towards him doesn't mean you have to take it out on me."

"I'm not in a bitchy mood with him. I'm in a bitchy mood with YOU. You have to be taken home by our marriage councillor because you completely wasted. Can't you see there is something wrong with that? Can't you see that it actually is a big deal?

You're not eighteen anymore Pacey. You can't go on a fishing trip and you'll come home and everything will be better!"

Pacey turned to give Joey a mock grin. "How did you know about that?"

Joey folded her arms. "It doesn't matter."

"Well it does to me. How did you find out?" he paused. "Gretchen. I'll kill her."

"It was eight years go Pacey."

"Since when were you and Gretchen ever friends anyway? You don't even talk to her now!"

Joey raised an eyebrow. "You wanna know why I was talking to Gretchen? Because I thought I was pregnant. And you had run off. Just like you're doing now. God Pacey, you don't change, do you?"

"Wait. Back track Joey," Pacey said walking closer towards her. His head was hurting from last night's drinks but Joey was making him even more confused. "You what?"

Joey nodded. "Pregnant. I thought I was. But it was a scare. Thank God."

"So you've been keeping secrets from me this whole time?"

"You want to use something that happened eight years ago against me? See Pacey. This is why we're seeing a marriage councillor. Why didn't I tell you about it? Because I wasn't pregnant so it didn't even matter. And thank God. Look what you're like now when you're supposedly older and more mature?"

"So you're saying I'm not gonna be a good father."

Joey stopped. She saw her mistake. "I didn't say that."

"But it is what you meant, right?"

"No it's not."

"Yes it is. You said Dawson, Jack or even Charlie would be a better father then me."

"No I didn't. I said that-"

"Don't try and go back on your word, Joey."

"I didn't actually say that! I said they would have looked after me better during the pregnancy. Which is true seeing as you just go out and get drunk."

"OH WILL YOU SHUT UP ABOUT THAT? I MADE A MISTAKE. You've made some in your time," he muttered darkly.

"What was that?" she asked. She stood up but from where she was leaning. At eight months pregnant she found herself tire easily. "What do you mean by that?"

Pacey began to walk away. "We better go back to Gerry. It's time to go."

"Don't you turn your back on me Pacey Witter."

Pacey raised a hand, "I'll do what I like." And with that he walked out of the door.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review. Next chapter we'll be back with more memories in Gerry's office! Promise to bring the rest of the gang in (Jen, Jack…etc) in the next few chapters.


	9. A little bit of hope

A/N: Hey! Thanks for all the reviews. Sorry about the slow update! We can only update in the holidays!

Pacey and Joey entered Gerry's office. When he saw them his heart sank. They never seemed to work out any of their problems and after Pacey's drunken fiasco last night he doubted that they would be able to sort it out today. Sometimes he thought this job was easy money. But not when the Witters were involved.

"Good morning," he said wearily. "What can I do for you today?" he asked sarcastically.

"Ha, ha…" Joey replied irritably.

Pacey smiled slightly. He understood Gerry's sense of humour but Joey would never find it funny, especially now that she was nine months pregnant. "Hey Gerry… thanks for bringing me home last night."

Joey tutted, "You should have left him to wallow," she said. "He doesn't deserve your kindness…"

"Joey, sometimes you just talk too much!" Pacey replied. "Look… to be honest Gerry… things aren't getting much better…"

"I thought you said Witters aren't quitters?" Joey responded bitterly.

"Did I say that? Oh…"

Gerry looked between the two. They looked so miserable. And their body language looked worse then ever. "Ok… I have a plan."

"A plan?"

"A plan!"

He pulled out a DVD. He was grinning from ear to ear. "Ever heard of the The Creek?!"

Joey looked at Pacey with malice. "I can't believe you told him!"

"I was drunk!"

"That's your excuse for everything!"

"It wasn't my excuse for the baby!"

"Don't even start on the baby…. I don't want to have anything to do with the Creek Dr. Walsh. So just put it away!"

Gerry looked slightly hurt. "Oh come on. I spent all day trying to bribe my daughter into giving me this. I had to give her $50 dollars. It's like her bible. Who knows what she'll spend it on?"

Pacey shrugged. "I dunno… so what are you going to do with the Creek? I mean it was done by Dawson Leery. It's a completely unfair representation of what actually happened! And if I say so myself, it's a poor acted play as well…"

Joey rolled her eyes. "Any chance to slate Dawson, hey Pace? It was actually nominated for a daytime Emmy."

"Whoop de doo…" Pacey muttered. "Perfect Dawson, with his perfect show and perfect Emmy! What a perfect father he would make!"

"Ok! Stop bringing your male sub ordinance issues with Dawson into this!"

"You started it!"

"No I didn't!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Gerry shouted. "Look I thought we got through this. Seriously! I brought this DVD along to try and bring you together, not pull you apart. Come on! I want you to remember the good times!"

Joey and Pacey remained silent.

"There were some good times?" Gerry asked nervously. He was starting to think that this was some sort of arranged marriage or something. They seemed so incompatible.

"There were good times…" Pacey replied, sadly.

Joey nodded. "Yeah…"

Gerry smiled. "Then let's do this…"

He put the DVD into the player and began to fast forward the adverts, "Now I found a part in the DVD that I thought was especially interesting and would be good for conversation…" He looked over at them. "I was watching this all last night!"

"Wow, you really have no life!" Joey replied.

"Says the women who watches the Creek every Saturday!"

"Yeah!" Joey argued. "For moral support for Dawson!"

"Hmm… Moral support!"

"Shut up!"

"Hey guys!" Gerry waved. "Come on now. Now just watch the DVD. Sink back into yester years…"

He pressed play and a scene came up. He played the episode where Joey had to help Pacey with his Biology. Or rather Sam and Petey.

Joey and Pacey watched it for a while fairly engaged in the show.

Joey frowned. "That's not what happened!" she commented when it showed Sam and Petey getting changed and Petey watching Sam closely.

Gerry looked up, "It didn't? I thought your friend stuck close to reality…"

"Hey I would have known if that doofus was watching me!"

Pacey grinned, "Well clearly you didn't…"

Joey looked at him in shook.

The scene changed to the where Petey kissed Sam. She pushed him away and after an embarrassed pause she left.

Pacey grinned. "The first three kisses I've had with you, you pushed me away! That does a lot for a man's confidence… No wonder we're in councelling!"

Joey laughed slightly. "Yeah well… I was in a different place then… I wasn't attracted to you…"

"You've always been attracted to me! But you never want to admit it. To yourself!"

"Right doofus! If you say so…"

"Hmm…" Pondered Gerry. "Well you know I think you've got something there Pacey."

"What?"

"You've always had some kind of attraction to the guy. I mean you held his hand in the forest and you felt safe. It was Pacey you turned to for comfort when your mother passed away and when Pacey had his ice hockey match you came along for no real reason…"

Joey raised an eyebrow.

"And when he kissed you…" he continued.

"Ok stop! They were all things to do with childhood! I mean they weren't serious!"

"If you say so…" Gerry responded. "The fact is, you two had an attraction to each other for a long time!"

"Sometimes attractions change. Don't they Joe!"

Joey looked up sharply. "Pacey!" She didn't know what to say. "You would know!"

Gerry looked hesitantly between them. "Anyway! So tell me about this kiss. What did it mean to you?"

Pacey sighed. "It meant to me that I would never be what she wanted. I would never be Dawson!"

Joey sighed.

"It's true!" He argued.

"Well I'm sorry it meant such a depressing thing to you Pace. To me it meant that someone actually liked me. That I didn't have to be blonde and big breasted to have a guy like me. I didn't have to be Jen! That kiss, even though I rejected you, meant something to me!"

"Oh," Pacey said simply.

"I mean… I was so mad when you and Jen got together. One because I liked you. But two because you were that guy who liked me, not her…" Joey saw Gerry watching her intently and felt embarrassed. "Never mind. That's another story!"

"Really? Well maybe that's the root to these issues!"

"It's not!" Pacey replied slowly. "Jen's not here anymore. It's not a problem at all."

Joey nodded sadly.

Gerry sighed. "Well Pacey. You say you and Joey have some serious problems but look… That kiss… it meant so much to your wife… she remembers it now… and if you can take anything away from these sessions it's that there is still hope… Now tell me Pacey. What did that kiss really mean to you?"

Pacey pondered. "Well I guess it was the start of our serious friendship. It was one of the first times I saw Joey as someone other then Dawson's weird best friend. It almost drew the line between us being foes and us being friends. And after Tamara, I guess it was nice to have a friend who was a girl…. Without it being… like a relationship thing… It was the first time that I saw Joey as a real person… not that she isn't!" he corrected hastily. "I mean wasn't… but she wasn't just someone in the way of me and Dawson's friendship. She was a friend in herself."

Gerry smiled. "That's what marriage is about. Being with you're best friend."

He looked at the couple and they were smiling at each other… for once. "Ok…. So whose Tamara?"

A/N: Hope you liked. Just wanted to show that Pacey and Joey still have some hope. Unfortunately it won't last till the next chapter! Please review! Thanks x


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